Toe lasting mechanism



mama? Get. 4, 1933,. B. FENTON TOE LASTING MECHANISM Filed April 28,1937 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Wmfm 3 VENTUR Oct. 4, 1938. B. FENTON TOE LAS'IINGMECHANISM 2 ShetS -Sheet 2 Filed April 28, 1937 Patented Oct. 4, 1938UNITED, STATES 'roE L A S'IING MECHANISM Bruton Fenton, Murphysboro,Ill., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J a.corporation of New Jersey Application Apr-i128,

3 Claims. This invention relates to machines for use in lasting shoesand is herein illustrated in its application to means for lasting thetoes of shoes.

A well-knowntype of bed lasting machine in common use includes in.itslorganization toeembracing wipers for wiping the upper firstheightwise of the toe and then inwardly over the shoe bottom and atoe-end-clampingdevice or band which is advanced and closed about thetoe to clamp the upper around the toe end of the last after the upwipingoperation as the wipers are moved inwardly over the shoe bottom. Inoperating upon shoes mounted upon squaretoed lasts, that is, lasts thetoe end faces of which are substantially straight widthwise of the lastand form with thelateral faces of the lasts relatively sharp corners,considerable difiiculty has been experienced heretofore in clamping theupper smoothly around the toe end of the last by the use of the usualsubstantially U- shaped clamping band, commonly provided in machines ofthe type above referred to, since the clamping hand because of itsshape-tends to wipe the upper rearwardly of the last at the oppositecorners of the toe as it is. advanced and closed about the toe.'I'his'tends to draw the upper around the corners of the toe end of thelast with the result that wrinkles are formed in the upper which mightbe visible in the finished shoe. An object of the invention accordinglyis to provide 7 an improved construction of endclamping means adapted toproduce more satisfactory results than heretofore in operating uponshoes mounted on square-toed lasts. For the purpose in view there isprovided, as herein illustrated, a toe-end-embracing band which ismolded to conform substantially to the contour of the toe end of a lasthaving a substantially straight toe-end face, the band having its vsideportions movably connected to its closedxend portion at the corners ofthe toe end of the last to adapt the band for use in lasting shoesmounted on square-toed lasts. As illustrated, the band comprises twolayersof flexible leather molded to the desired shape with the closedend and the side portions of the band reinforced by strips ofsubstantially rigid material, preferably oak-tanned sole leather, andthe corners of the band not thus reinforced. In the construction shown,the toe band as heretofore is mounted for adjustment in directionslengthwise of the shoe and is supported by a flexible chain which isconnected to the ends of the side portions of the band and serves as'a'backing for the band. Connectedto the ends of the flexible chain areslides 1937, Serial No. 139,373

which are movable lengthwise of the last to advance the band and arealso mounted for swinging movements toward and from each other to closeand open the band. Since the band is molded substantially to conform tothe contour of the toe end'of the last, its closed end portion has asubstantially fiat upper-engaging face which is substantially as wide asthe toe-end face of the last and is adapted to press the upper againstthe toe-end face of the last as the bandi is advanced lengthwise of thelast, the flexible corners of the band permitting its side portions tobe swung toward each other to press the upper against the lateral facesof the last at the opposite sides of the toe end without any rearwardwiping action of the band on the upper. The band is thus pressed againstthe upper in directions substantially normal to the contour of the endand sidefaces of the toe of the last so that any possibility of rearwarddisplacement of the upper is avoided as the band is applied to the toe.i r

The novel features of the invention; including various novel details ofconstruction and combinations of parts, will now be moreparticularly 7Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the mechanism shown in Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a plan' view of the novel toe-embracing band; and r Fig. 4 isa plan view of a modification of the band shown in Fig. 3.

.;The machine herein shown isone of a wellknown type, many of thecharacteristic features of which, relating especially to the means forlasting the toe end of theshoe, are shown and r described in. detail inUnited States Letters Patent No. 1,284,870, granted on November 12,1918, upon an application of Matthias Brook and No. 1,4l95,169,;-granted on May 27, 1924 on an application of Joseph Fausse and RenE. Duplessis. Only such portions of. the general organization of themachine therefore as it is necessary-to refento for an understanding ofthis invention will be'herein described.

comprising altoe rest' ID for supporting the toe- .endportion of-theshoe and last and a spindle *(HOll ShQWlfl), whichis adapted'to enterthe spindle hole in theheel end of; the last. The shoe thus mounted isembraced by 'heel-end-clamping 1 ,The machine is provided with a shoesupport mechanism (not shown) which clamps and holds its heel-endportion and also maintains its toe end pressed firmly down upon the toerest l. For wiping the toe-end portion of the upper heightwise of thelast and inwardly over an insole on the last there are providedtoe-embracing wipers l2 which are advanced and closed by operating meanscomprising a rod or plunger [4 and a hand lever [6 connected to saidplunger by a link [8. It will be understood that in the customary use ofa machine of this type the wipers are first advanced and closed aboutthe toe, below the plane of the shoe bottom, by movement of the handlever l6 and are then raised by treadle means to wipe the upperheightwise of the toe to the edge of the insole, after which they arefurther advanced and closed by movement of the hand lever to wipe themarginal portion of the upper inwardly over the insole. By use of thetreadle means also the wipers may be forced downwardly to increase theirpressure on the marginal portion of the upper and may be raised toprevent them from dragging on the upper when they are retracted by thehand lever.

The illustrated machine also includes in its organization mechanismwhereby toe-clamping means hereinafter described is applied in clampingand holding engagement with the upper when the wipers are advanced andclosed inwardly over the shoe bottom after the upwiping operation. Thismechanism comprises closing members or slides 20 which are movablelengthwise of the shoe to close the clamping means about the toe end ofthe shoe. At their outer ends the slides 20 are pivotally connected to acrossbar 22 which is in turn connected midway between its opposite endsto a slide 24 having a reduced end portion on which there is slidablymounted a crosshead 26. The crosshead 26 is connected to the plunger Mby mechanism fully disclosed in the abovementioned Letters Patent No.1,495,169, the construction being such that as the hand lever 16 isswung to the right (Fig. 1) the wipers will first be advanced and closedrelatively to the clamping means to position their wiping edges ineffective engagement with the upper for the upwiping operation beforethe clamping means receives any substantial closing movement, afterwhich the clamping means is closed firmly about the toe in response tofurther swinging movement of the hand lever in the same direction toadvance and close the wipers inwardly over the bottom of the shoe. Itwill be understood that the operator is thus enabled to close the wipersinwardly as far as desired to wipe down and compact the marginal portionof the upper on the bottom of the shoe and to retract the wiperssubstantially to the edge of the shoe bottom and advance them repeatedlywithout relaxing the pressure of the clamping means on the upper whichholds the upper conformed tightly to the contour of the last andprevents any relaxing of the upper on the last during the overwipingoperation.

For purposes of this invention there is provided novel toe-end-clampingmeans comprising the usual flexible supporting chain 28 and anupperengaging member or toe band 30 which may be made of any suitablematerial and, as illustrated, is provided with a substantially rigidclosed end portion 32 having a substantially flat upper engaging face 33for pressing the upper against the toe-end face of the last and withsubstantially rigid side portions 34 for pressing the upper against thelateral faces of the last at the opposite sides of the toe end, the bandhaving flexible corners 36 to permit it to be closed about the toe endof the last by inward swinging movement of its side portions without anyrearward wiping action of the band on the upper.

The toe band 36 (Fig. 3) is preferably made of two layers 38, 39 offlexible leather which are cemented together and are subjected to heavymolding pressure to conform them substantially to the contour of the toeend of a square-toad last. After the molding operation there is cementedor otherwise secured to the outer face of the closed end portion 32 ofthe band between the corners 36 a reinforcing strip 40 of substantiallyrigid material, preferably oak-tanned sole leather. Secured to the sideportions 34 of the band forwardly of the corners 36 are similarreinforcing strips 4|. The closed end and side portions of the toe bandare thus rendered substantially rigid with the corners 36 of the bandflexible, the reinforcing strips 40, 4| serving to maintain the bandsubstantially in its molded shape.

The intermediate portion of the toe band 30 is supported and controlledby mechanism substantially as illustrated in Patent No. 1,284,870whereby the band may be adjusted relatively to the wipers in directionslengthwise of the shoe through the operation of a hand wheel 42, thecontrolling means also permitting the band to be moved forwardly towardthe toe end face of the shoe against the resistance of the usual spring44 in response to the pull applied by the flexible chain 28. The closingslides 26 in their lengthwise movements are wedged toward and from thesides of the shoe to close and to open the band laterally of the shoe bypositive means including rolls 46 which engage the slides in slots 48formed in inclined relation to the length of the slides. The connectionsbetween the closing slides 20 and the ends of the band comprise arms 50which are mounted on the ends of the slides and are connected by pivots52 to the ends of the band chain 28. The arms 50 are slottedhorizontally to embrace the ends of the slides 20 and are also providedwith vertical slots 54 to receive pins 56 which are secured to the endsof the slides 20. The arms 50 are adjustably positioned in respect tomovement laterally of the shoe by means of thumb nuts 58 which areswiveled in the ends of the arms and are threaded on rods 60, the innerends of which are connected to the pins 56. By turning movement of thenuts 58 the arms may be adjusted inwardly or outwardly independently ofeach other to vary and determine the pressure applied by the band at theopposite sides of the shoe. The arms are normally held from turningabout the pins 56 by means of rods 62 which are swiveled on pins 64 onthe outer ends of the arms and extend through cars 66 on the slides 26.Nuts 68 are swiveled in the ears 66 and are threaded on the ends of therods 62 for swinging the arms 50 adjustably about the pins 56 and formaintaining them in adjusted positions.

In the use of the machine for lasting the toe end portions of shoesmounted upon square-toed lasts the operator, by means of the thumb nuts58, will adjust the open position of the band 30 for the size of shoebeing operated upon and by rotation of the hand wheel 42 will move theband lengthwise of the shoe to position its closed end portion 32 inclose relation to the toe-end face of the last. With the toe band inadjusted position the operator, by movement of the hand lever l6,advances and closes the Wipers l2 about the toe end of the last in alocation below the plane of the shoe bottom, after which the wipers areraised until their wiping faces are substantially in the 7 plane of thebottom of the shoe. It will be understood that the wipers I2 are shapedsubstantially to conform to the contour of the toe end of the shoe sothat, as they are raised, the upper is wiped heightwise of the lasttoward the edge of the insole. Thereafter, by further movement of thehand lever I6, the wipers H are advanced and closed to wipe the marginalportion of the upper inwardly over the insole, and substantially at thebeginning of the overwiping movement of the wipers the slides 28 aremoved lengthwise of the shoe and are swung toward each other. As theslides are thus moved the upper is pressed against the substantiallystraight toe-end face of the last by the closed end portion 32 of thetoe band and the side portions of the band are swung relatively to theclosed end portion 32 toward each other to press the upper against thelateral faces of the last at the opposite sides of the toe end. It willbe evident that, as the toe band 30 is thus advanced and closed aboutthe toe end of the last, the pressure of the band is applied to theupper in directions substantially normal to the edge contour of the toeend of the last, thus insuring against any rearward displacement of theupper on the last as the upper is conformed tightly to the contour ofthe toe end of the last. It will be understood that the upper is heldconformed tightly to the contour of the last by the toe band during theoverwiping movements of the wipers and until the wipers are retractedfrom over the shoe bottom at the end of the lasting operation.

Fig. 4 illustrates a modified form of toe band having the reinforcingstrip 40 inserted between the two layers of flexible material 38, 39 atthe closed end of the band between the corners 36, and the reinforcingstrips 4| inserted between the two layers 38, 39 at the sides of thebandforwardly of the corners 36, to render the closed end and side portionsof the band substantially rigid and the corners of the band relativelyflexible.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of th United States is:

1. In a lasting machine, the combination with toe-embracing wipers, of atoe band for clamping an upper about the toe end of a square-toed last,said band having a substantially rigid closed end portion provided witha substantially straight upper engaging face and having substantiallyrigid side portions connected to said closed end portion by flexiblecorners to permit the band to be closed about the toe end of the lastwithout any substantial rearward wiping action of the band on the upper.

2. In a lasting machine, wipers for wiping an upper around the end of asquare-teed last inwardly over the bottom of the last, and atoe-endembracing band for clamping the upper around the toe end of thelast exteriorly of the last bottom, said band being shaped to conformsubstantially to the contour of the toe end of the last and having itsclosed end portion and its side portions reinforced to render thoseportions of the band substantially rigid and portions of the bandconnecting the closed end and side portions flexible to permit closingand opening movements to be imparted to the band by swinging movementsof its side portions toward and from each other.

3. A toe-end-embracing band having a substantially rigid closed endportion provided with a substantially flat upper-engaging face andsubstantially rigid side portions connected to said closed end portionby flexible corners to permit the band to be closed about the toe end ofa shoe mounted on a last provided with a toe-end face substantiallystraight widthwise of the last without any substantial rearward wipingaction of the band on the upper.

BRUTON FENTON.

